31 Top Activities and Things To Do In Glasgow, By A Local Editor (original) (raw)
Photograph: Shutterstock
The 31 greatest things to do in Glasgow
From street art and galleries to some iconic pubs, you’ll never run out of things to do in this vibrant city
As a born and bred Glaswegian who has spent several years in England and abroad, I can confidently say that there’s no place like home. Long seen by outsiders as Edinburgh’s shabby little sibling, the city is enjoying a renaissance, fuelled by home-grown talents cultivated at the city’s world-leading art school and from within the thriving music and arts scene, all whilst grassroots community organisations fight to ensure that development happens as fairly as possible.
But how to spend your time in Glasgow? A weekend visit will give you a great sense of the city, but I’d recommend staying longer to get to know its distinct neighbourhoods (and increase your chances of enjoying a rare sunny day). Rain or shine, a perfect Glasgow day should include a coffee at Outlier, some culture at the Tramway, some independent shopping (try Category Is Books) and a dance in one of the city’s famous clubs (for me, it’s got to be sweaty basement venue The Berkeley Suite). But read on – we’ve got plenty more where that came from. Here are my favourite things to do in Glasgow.
🍂 Autumn 2024: As the nights draw in, the pull of the city’s cosy pubs gets even stronger. Whisky fanatics will enjoy the exceptional selection at The Pot Still in the city centre, while design buffs will enjoy the authentic ’60s style of local favourite The Laurieston Bar (if you think you’ve seen it somewhere before, you probably have – the pub was a location in an episode of Succession).
RECOMMENDED: 🍔 The best restaurants in Glasgow 🍸 The best pubs in Glasgow 🏨 The best hotels in Glasgow 🏩 The best Airbnbs in Glasgow
This guide was recently updated by Time Out editor Olivia Simpson, who is from Glasgow. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.
What is it? A lush green space with the grand old Pollok House at the centre of the grounds.
Why go? This slice of gorgeous countryside is just a rather scenic ten minutes away from Glasgow Central on the train. Once there, get the blood pumping with a stroll through serene surroundings, followed by some cooing over the Highland cows and Clydesdale horses.
Don’t miss: Stop inside Pollok House to see its collections of antique furniture, silverware, ceramics and fine art. Its collection of Spanish paintings is one of the finest in Britain.
🤫 Insider tip: If you’re not too tired, walk 20 minutes to Shawlands for coffee or dinner. You can catch plenty of buses and trains back to the city centre. –Olivia Simpson, Translations Editor
2. Wander around the atmospheric Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis
What is it? Glasgow’s big gothic attractions, with signature spires in tow.
Why go? Glasgow Cathedral was consecrated in 1197 and remains a sturdy and impressive example of Scottish gothic architecture both inside and out. The other big attraction nearby is the Necropolis, Glasgow’s gloriously atmospheric cemetery inspired by Père Lachaise in Paris and dating back to 1833. Amble among the monuments, look out over the city and wonder just how green and bucolic the view was more than two centuries ago. Ankle-length black leather coat and Demonia boots optional. If you’ve seen the latest Batman movie you might recognise the bridge you’ll need to cross to walk from the cathedral to the necropolis. The cathedral has one of the most impressive post-war collections of stained glass windows in Britain, including John K Clark’s Millennium Window.
💡 Editor’s tip: Special occasion? Celentano’s, one of the city’s best restaurants, is just round the corner. It’s my go-to recommendation for a semi-fancy evening dinner. –Olivia Simpson, Translations Editor
3. Sample craft beer at Drygate Brewery
What is it? An ‘experiential’ micro-brewery, beer hall, and restaurant.
Why go? A joint venture between craft brewers Williams Brothers and macro-brewers Tennent’s located partly in a 1930s former box factory beside the Tennent’s brewery on Duke Street in the East End, Drygate has a beer hall with big screens for sports and space for music and comedy events, and a terrace for those rare Glasgow days when the rain isn’t pouring down. You can sample 26 rotating beers on tap and countless more bottled varieties. If you’re looking to go behind the scenes, that’s easily sorted: just go along to one of the brewery tours and you’ll discover exactly how Drygate’s fantastic beers come to be.
💡 Editor’s tip: Head east past the Tennant’s Factory murals to my former local, Redmond’s of Dennistoun, for its great beer selection (including four rotating draft lines), a Japanese-inspired kitchen, and an excellent selection of vinyl.
4. Get to know the city’s emerging artists at Gallery of Modern Art
What is it? Glasgow’s foremost centre for contemporary art, showcasing some of the city's greatest talents.
Why go? You'll find Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in the stately neoclassical building in Royal Exchange Square in the heart of the city, just off Buchanan Street. With its thriving contemporary art scene surrounding the world-renowned Glasgow School of Art, which has produced many a Turner Prize success story over the years, GoMA exists to showcase not just the work of the city’s most talented artists but also to highlight what those artists share in common with others in terms of influences and practices. It has recently been the only place to showcase world-renowned Bansky’s latest exhibition ‘Cut and Run’.
Don’t miss: The grand carving of the Duke of Wellington that sits outside the front door of the gallery. It's probably even more famous than GoMA itself among ordinary Glaswegians – mainly because he wears a plastic traffic cone on his head, and allegedly the reason why Bansky chose Glasgow for his exhibition.
5. See historic forms of transport at The Riverside Museum
What is it? This award-winning structure houses the contents of the former Museum of Transport, including trams, prams and rockets.
Why go? This Zaha Hadid-designed waterside museum carries an extensive collection of vehicles including ambulances, buses, police cars, horse-drawn taxis and motor cars that look like they drove to Glasgow from the set of a 1930s action movie. Formerly housed in the old Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall, they’ve been cherished by Glaswegians for generations.
Don’t miss: The impressive late Victorian, three-masted Tall Ship that’s berthed outside the museum in the River Clyde – a stunning monument to Glasgow’s rich maritime heritage.
6. Explore Glasgow Botanic Gardens
What is it? One of the prettiest green spaces you'll spy in Glasgow, filled to the brim with history, botany and fine architecture.
Why go? Originally laid out in 1841 as part of the University of Glasgow, the Botanic Gardens were acquired by the city and made public in 1891. In 1873 the most distinctive building – the eccentric domed glasshouse Kibble Palace – was erected, followed a few years later by the Main Range teak glasshouse. Both have been beautifully preserved and brim with exotic plant life, from arid lands to tropical rainforests.
Don’t miss: The long east-west facing green in front of the glasshouses teems with life on warm days, be it families, groups of students or yoga classes.
7. Discover the city’s thriving queer scene
What is it? A new wave of queer nightlife, shops and community groups in the city
Why go? Google will tell you that the Merchant City, just east of the city centre, is Glasgow’s LGBTQIA+ district, but locals are more likely to say it’s the Southside, particularly the neighbouring areas of Govanhill and Strathbungo. Here, you’ll find the wonderful independent bookshop Category Is Books, which specialises in LGBTQIA+ titles, regular queer comedy and club nights at the Rum Shack, and even Scotland’s first trans and non-binary football club, Gender Goals, which trains in local facilities. Should you feel the need to leave the Southside (honestly, in my two years living in the area, I rarely did) check out Stereo, the Berkeley Suite and the Poetry Club at SWG3, which all regularly programme queer performers.
Don’t miss: Check out the Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF). This year’s programme includes the first-ever Scottish screening of the 1974 Japanese road trip film Bye Bye Love, a selection of Scottish shorts, a craft fair and more.
🤫 Insider tip: Some of the city’s best queer nights are Ponyboy parties, where the lineups prioritise the trans community, and a welfare team and clear safer space policy protects community wellbeing. –Olivia Simpson, Translations Editor
8. Find old treasures at the newly reopened Burrell Collection
What is it? A vast assortment of around 9,000 objects gifted to Glasgow in 1944 by Sir William Burrell (1861-1958). The Burrell Collection reopened in 2022 following a £68.25m redevelopment that has made the museum's building greener and more accessible. Today, there are 225 displays across 24 galleries, which take you on a tour of 6,000 years of history.
Why go? The Collection includes treasures which feature people and places from around the world. Among the highlights are one of the most significant collections of Chinese art in the UK, Roman sculpture and Egyptian pottery more than 2,000 years old and paintings by renowned 19th century French artists like Manet, Cézanne and Degas.
9. Marvel at The Finnieston Crane and The Clyde
What is it? Two of the city’s most iconic shipbuilding cranes which have turned into rather popular visitor attractions. The Finnieston crane stands for Glasgow’s shipbuilding past and has become one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. It erects ominously over the river Clyde, proudly bearing the city’s industrial heritage.
Why go? A relic of the age when Glasgow’s shipyards made this one of the most powerful and important industrial cities in the world, the giant grey Finnieston crane – still emblazoned with the title of its former owners Clydeport, and one of just four remaining such cranes on the Clyde – is no longer in working order. But it has been wisely retained and recontextualised in new proximity to such shiny modern buildings as the Armadillo, The Hydro, the Glasgow Science Centre and the BBC Scotland headquarters, as a potent and emotive 174-feet-tall symbol of proud engineering heritage.The Finnieston Crane is just one among several landmarks on the Clyde which can be experienced along a relatively short walk from Glasgow Green east of the city centre upriver to Govan. From the St Andrews footbridge to The Clyde Arc (or the Squinty Bridge, as it’s known, for its odd shape), there’s a crossing for practically every era of modern Glasgow history.
Don’t miss: Carry on past Pacific Quay and the Finnieston Crane and you’ll eventually reach Glasgow’s spectacular Riverside Museum. Head to the Red Sky Bar to get a rooftop view of the crane and the river.
10. Watch a gig in retro splendour at The Barrowland Ballroom
What is it? One of the most iconic and cherished music venues in the world, and for an enduringly good reason.
Why go? You’ve never really experienced live music in Scotland until you’ve stumbled into the famous Barrowland Ballroom – a dusty, old, family-owned Glasgow institution that’s been embraced by several generations of live music fans alike for more than four decades. All while retaining independence, integrity and a gloriously retro feel like few other spaces of its size. Barely altered in architecture, décor or spirit since it opened, the Barrowland’s shows today include new and veteran acts alike – every major promoter in Scotland books here. The mere view of the venue’s massive garish flashing coloured neon sign hovering into view down the Gallowgate on a show night is sufficient to give gig-goers a buzz of anticipation.
More great things to do in Glasgow
Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
Sign up for our newsletter to get your city's hidden gems and cultural spots away from the crowds.
By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
🙌
Awesome, you're subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!